Rough Draft
by tiff098765
Summary: Castle's got writer's block, so he just starts typing little random Nikki Heat scenes. Whatever pops into his head. I'll go on and rate this M, because we know he can be gutter-minded sometimes.
1. Chapter 1

Castle tapped on his keyboard. Not the keys, but the part where his wrists had been resting making it warm. Because he couldn't think of what to write.

His outline was filling in, but he really didn't like the feel of the Jamie/ Nikki vibe. It should be more… something. More… friendly? More… trusting? Just more. He knew there should be more.

He ran his hands over his stubbly jaw then pushed them through his messy hair, scratching his scalp.

He grabbed his mug, not looking, and pulled it up for another sip, only to find a few drops of cold coffee in the bottom.

Palm to his cheek and elbow on the desk, he stared at that little blinking line. He sighed.

Then he pushed his rolling chair roughly away from his desk, mug in hand, and stalked to the kitchen to brew a fresh pot.

Normally, he did other stuff while the coffee trickled into the carafe, but this time, he leaned heavily on both hands on the counter, watching the pot slowly fill.

Maybe if he just started writing, it would come. If he didn't work on the scene he'd been struggling with anymore. If he just wrote some random thoughts, random scenes. He didn't have to use them, or he could flesh them out later for some other part of the book. That would help.

He hated being blocked.

The coffee maker stopped dripping, and he poured himself a fresh cup. Then he situated himself back into his comfortable desk chair to get back to work.

Now… what did he _want_ to write?

_Nikki looked from side to side, searching for anybody. She turned around, slowly and fully scanning 360 degrees, before becoming satisfied that she was alone. She took a deep breath and let down her guard. Then she laid back down on her beach towel, unhooked her bikini top, and relaxed in the sunshine. It felt good, healing even, to soak up the warmth and rest her weary body. Besides, she didn't want a tan-line across her back when she got into that gown. Beckett (_oops, backspace over that) _Nikki smiled as she thought of how Rook would be rendered speechless when he saw that the gown was backless. Anything that made that man stop talking was a good thing. With another deep breath, she closed her eyes, thinking of how much he talks… how his deep voice, smooth as velvet, caresses her and makes her heart flutter and her insides warm. A smile slowly spread on her face. She wondered why she wanted to make him stop talking in the first place._

Mmm. _I like that._ He takes a sip of near-scalding coffee. _The Hamptons has a private beach. I wonder if I should invite her again._ His hand goes to the back of his neck, squeezing firmly on the taut muscles that are sore from staring at the computer screen and rolling his head to work the soreness out. He freezes with a devilish smile.

"_Rook, let me go! Get me out of here!" Nikki didn't truly expect him to be interested in bondage when she teased him with a suggestion that they could use her cuffs for something "more fun than arresting people." Rook laughed and held the key just out of her reach. "But Kate _(backspacing again… I've got to quit doing that) _Nikki, you've been a very naughty girl. I might have to punish you. But I promise, when I'm a bad boy, you can spank me." A smirk that was both threatening and dangerous formed on her rosy lips. Her eyes became dark, and she raised an eyebrow. Then, in her sultriest voice, she purred, "Jameson, how can I spank you if you've got my hands bound? How can I touch you? How can I make you_

Castle pulled his hands from the keyboard. "Whoa." _I've got to stop there. That… that doesn't need to be written down. Maybe… um… a suspect chase._

_Hmmm….dah dah duh da dah. Oh, got it._

_He turned into an alley, knocking down trash bins as he flew past. Nikki had been closing the distance and wasn't about to slow down because her path was now littered with cans and junk and old take-out cartons. Rook was close behind her, easily keeping up. The suspect jumped to scale the fence blocking his escape and Nikki pushed harder to catch him before he made it over. A beer bottle rolled into her path too late for her to avoid it. Maybe if she'd worn athletic shoes, she could have made it. But Nikki Heat always wore too-high heels. The bottle caught under her Prada pumps turning her ankle with a sickening crunch and sent her hurtling to the pavement. Rook nearly crashed into her, leaping and stumbling to avoid the collision. She cried out in pain, "Aah! Shit!" Her face had an angry red scrape from the tumble she'd just taken, but she saw the suspect shimmy his way over the top of the fence, so through her pain she yelled to Rook, "Get him! Don't let him go!" He hesitated for a second to make sure obedience was the right choice – his instinct had bowed to protecting her – then took off after the suspect. It was his fault she was anguishing in an alley with a broken ankle, and he wasn't about to let the SOB get away._

Rick smiled. That could become usable material. He could sit here punching out little scenes all night.

He took a long sip of coffee and poised his fingers over his keyboard.

* * *

><p>Please review! And throw me some prompts for little Nikki Heat scenes.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

2

An idea struck him. Jealous Nikki. Castle began typing.

_Rook sat propped against his headboard (_or lay on his bed, which is better?)_, putting the finishing touches on an article about gang members' family lives. It had to have just the right finesse to tell the story, to convey the truth, to fascinate the readers, and to make his editor happy. He was half-tempted to put the article away for later and write a few pages as Victoria St. Clair. The day's events had certainly provided inspiration for a cat-fight that was just begging to be written. Rook loved getting hit on. He loved it even more when it made Nikki jealous. She normally wasn't very open about the status of their relationship beyond the fact that he was still in the picture, but when Captain Irons brought in a consultant for a __robbery / __gang leader's_(?)_ assasination, Nikki made sure it was clear. Rook's head thunked against the headboard as he smiled at the memory. _

The memory? Um… Castle thought about what had made Beckett jealous and made a few notes to adapt for Nikki at some point.

_*The leggy blonde was a fan. She'd read all of Rook's articles from Sarajevo, the ones about the Mexican drug cartels, the one about the Arab prince, and even the one about the homicide team at the Twentieth. Maybe more of them, but Nikki cut her off, saying they needed to focus on the case. Blondie sat too close, batted her eyelashes, and took the coffee Rook had brought for Nikki. Then the FBI came in and took the case. Nikki protested, but the fed told her the Gods in the Marble Halls sent them to find a killer, and she could consult only if they needed her._

Rick re-read it._ Needs work. I could stretch this into a full chapter. Jordan Shaw and her gadgets and Serena Kaye at the same time?_ Rick smiled and nodded his head. _Add in a few of Natalie Rhodes' behaviors, and her head will explode. _But it still needed something. _Hmmm. Yes. An insubordinate cop._ Rick typed again.

_*Add in insubordinate a-hole uniform. Undermines Nikki at crime scene. Shaw-character sends Serena-character off with Rook to chase down a lead. Uniform mutters as they walk away, "There goes your love life and your career. Maybe if you were a better cop, the feds wouldn't be here. And if you were a better woman, he wouldn't be leaving with her." Nikki boils over, turns around and punches the jerk in the face. She's mad at everyone, including Rook, for the rest of the day. At some point, Nikki initiates a kiss_(?) _ in front of Blondie solely to mark her territory._

_*Figure out how Rook's story was connected to the case so he has a reason to be there._

_*Why was it big enough for feds to take over?_

Okay. Castle could fill in that crime scene stuff once he actually decided on the crime and the scene. What he really _wanted_ to write was Nikki and Rook making up, despite how fun it would be to fill in exactly _how_ Nikki goes about marking her territory. He'd get to that later. On to the make-up scene.

_Rook thought he heard something in his living room. Ever since the Texan duct-taped him to his own chair in his own home, he was hyper-aware of sounds that were out of place. Usually, it was someone passing in the hall outside his door. This time, he distinctly heard footsteps. Inside. He quietly reached for the Glock stowed in his nightstand and stepped into a corner for a tactical advantage. _

"_Rook? You here?" He dropped the weapon to his side at the sound of Nikki's voice._

"_In here. I could have shot you." She didn't respond as she stepped into the doorway. " Why aren't you working the case? I didn't expect to see you tonight."_

_Nikki's face flushed with a rare emotion: embarrassment. "I got sent home. Irons didn't appreciate how I handled an asshole uniform."_

_Rook regarded her with tenderness. He knew how difficult her day had been, and him being amused by it most of the day only made it worse. He knew which cop had been riding her ass but couldn't imagine what he could have said that would make her do something to get sent home._

"_Want to talk about it?"_

"_No." Talk about how that creep said I was losing you and my career then I clocked him? No thank you._

_Rook turned to place his Glock back in the drawer then re-positioned himself on his bed. He pat the spot next to him and smiled. "I was working on my article. Want to proof read?"_

"_No." There was a determined look in her eye. The one where she'd figured out who the killer was and was about to hunt him down._

_Kate stood in the doorway to his room and raised her fingers to her shirt's top button. She stared him in the eye. Slowly, one by one, she undid each button, revealing the center of her red lace bra, then her perfectly flat stomach, then continued straight to her pants. She loosened that button, then very slowly, lowered the zipper. He could see the matching red lace of her panties peeking out from the open fly. He realized then why she'd worn red pumps with her black-and-charcoal outfit that day. They matched her underwear. That was _so _hot. Nikki sauntered over to his bed and placed one high-heeled foot on its edge. "Take it off." Her gentle command made him swallow hard. He took her ankle in one hand and her shoe in the other and carefully pulled it off. She silently lowered that now-bare foot and raised the other to the bed. He caressed her calf before pulling the second shoe off. She dropped that foot to the plush carpet as well while Rook's hand slid up her leg. He moved her blouse to the side to trail tender kisses from one hip to the other then softly pushed the blouse off her shoulders. It fell almost silently. She stood still, watching him, as he continued his kisses from his seat on the bed. Rook shifted, placing his feet on the floor on either side of her. He ran his palms flat across her bare skin, causing an involuntary shiver. He slid her pants down, inch by inch, his mouth continuing the trail of wet kisses all the way down her thigh. Her eyes fluttered shut._

Castle blinked. His imagination seemed to be affecting him as much as it was affecting Rook. He needed to stop. He scanned over it, looking for glaring typos and Kates that didn't get changed to Nikkis. Finding only one, he made the correction and decided to call it a night.

Not like he would be able to sleep. Not with that image of Kate in her red lacy underwear slowly unbuttoning, having him remove her heels, then letting him undress her and kiss his way down her body. Not with how badly he wanted that to be real.


	3. Chapter 3

3

It was weeks before Castle got blocked again. He was able to add in the missing element (tenderness) between his two protagonists and sailed through the next few chapters.

But paperwork was boring and Kate was PMSing or something and he wasn't inspired tonight.

So he pulled up the document titled "Random" and began to freewrite.

_Nikki was beyond pissed. Captain Irons had benched her. She could help with the investigations, but she could not under any circumstances attend a take-down or an interrogation. And it was Rook's fault, damn him. Him and his talented penis. If she wasn't knocked up, she wouldn't be benched. Just because she put on that scandalous teddy she'd bought for their honeymoon didn't make it her fault. He'd been dropping baby hints for weeks. She'd quit taking her birth control… oh shit. Yeah, maybe it was her fault. Because she really did want to have a baby with him. But she was still pissed at Gates. (_backspacing) _Irons._

Rick smiled. One day. Hopefully soon. It wouldn't be a friend's wedding where they walk down the aisle together. It won't be someone else's first dance as Mr. & Mrs.

If only he could get out of the Friend Zone. She gave him hot looks sometimes, but he mostly accepted that she wasn't ready and was waiting. At least they were becoming closer every day. He'd decided to avoid her eyes. There was no way to keep his feelings hidden when they had "eye sex" as Lanie called it. She wasn't ready for his feelings. Or maybe she was making progress, but he was too afraid to see it. She'd hurt him so much already by disappearing this summer after she was shot. He wasn't ready to hope again.

Except in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep and couldn't write. And he made up stories of their life together.

He poised his fingers over the keys again then dismissed his idea. He tapped a few keys then backspaced over them. _The stuff in my head should either go to Penthouse Forum or I should follow Rook's lead and write a romance novel._

* * *

><p>Tap… tap… tap… Maybe something dumb would get his mind off his non-relationship with his non-girlfriend.<p>

_Mulder and Scully, now old and decrepit, turn the lights on in the dark parking structure. Finally, they have found him – their long lost informant. Deep Throat. He must work out – he's lost a lot of weight. And he obviously quit smoking, too. Mulder touched the top of his head, noticing that, while his hair has thinned, Deep Throat's looks better than ever. Maybe he got plugs._

_Scully slapped him across his chest for being so obviously vain. What did he expect, to still be hot and out fornicating in Cali or something? Besides, she was fluffy around the middle and her boobs were saggy from popping out those kids of his._

_Mulder ignored her. He was hyper-focused on Deep Throat and his new look. And the gall of him, abandoning them to go traipsing around Manhattan, having a creepy smoky rendezvous with that sexy writer. _

_Mulder gunned the engine, spun a wheel on their black SUV, and raced by; Scully opened the door and snatched him; effectively ending his meet with Jameson Rook about keeping the "dragon" at bay._

_If only he knew what they knew, thought Mulder, that the criminal mastermind was not dragon at all, but an alien._

"Ah, crap. I need a drink." Rick got up and wandered to the kitchen and poured a shot of bourbon. He had obviously watched too much X-files as a young man. Mr. Smith was no Deep Throat. Or maybe he was. He poured a second shot. Besides, there's no such thing as 'too much X-Files.'

Rick spoke aloud even though he was alone (or maybe that was precisely _why_ he spoke aloud). "Now, that would wrap it up in an interesting package. The Dragon is an alien. 'Why, Kate, my dear, I've discovered why we can't figure out who the bastard is who's behind all this. He's a space alien. Lemme go put on my space cowboy outfit, and I'll have this wrapped up in a jiff.'"

He threw back a third shot.

"Put it on and grab one of those antique dueling pistols. Who needs a concealed carry permit when you've got a collectable? I'll just put on that brown coat and point that pistol at the governor's head and demand that he tell me who's pulling the strings."

A fourth shot.

He slammed the shotglass down on the counter and stomped back into his study. He was already feeling the alcohol.

* * *

><p><em>Nikki didn't know why Jameson jumped in from of that bullet for her, not for sure. Except, she did know. There was only one reason he would do that. The same reason that kept her at his hospital bedside reading to him, not leaving until she was forced to by Raley and Ochoa days later. She'd eaten (barely) there, slept there, showered in that tiny excuse for a bathroom. She couldn't let him be alone, didn't want to leave his side. Because the loved him. And he took a bullet to save her.<em>

_But he finally woke up, and she was there. His shooter was dead not long after Rook went down, taken by the hail of bullets from Heat and Roach. But it wasn't enough for her. She wanted to know why, if only to keep them safe. She didn't want to leave it at that, but she would, if it was what she had to do for them to have a life._

"I know, I know. It doesn't fit neatly with the details of Heat Rises. How does the governor connect? How is he influenced by the Dragon?"

He turned on his smart board and forgot all about writing.


End file.
